Centaurian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Centaurian is a script used in the book Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer. According to the book, the script is only known by centaurs. The code is slightly easier to translate than Gnommish because many of the symbols look similar to their English counterparts. It can be read fluently once familiar, and is more like a recognisable font than a language.

[edit] Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident translation

Centaurian can be decoded from scratch using the text given in the book, an "illuminated Centaurian manuscript" from the "Scrolls of Capalla":

Fairy creatures, heed this warning,

On Earth, the human era is dawning.

So hide, fairy, lest you be found,

And make a home beneath the ground.

In most editions, there is a code along the bottom of each page and on the front cover; this was removed in the US edition.

The code on the front cover is the same as the first two lines of the Centaurian passage given in the book.

The code on the bottom of each page reads as follows:

Congratulations Human. If you have cracked this code then you are more intelligent than most of your species. This is a message from the Fairy People.

We are seeking out our allies among the Mud Men. Though most Humans are dullwitted creatures there are exceptions. You for example. The reason for your intelligence is that you have Fairy ancestors. Do you feel different from those around you? Are your ears a bit pointier than most is your tongue long enough to touch your nose? Do you dream of flying? Have you ever thought that you do not belong among the Mud Men? That is because you have Fairy blood in your veins.

So young Mud Fairy I have a mission for you. As one of the People it is your duty to protect the Earth from those who would destroy it. You must become one of a new race of Mud men who love this planet as much as the Fairy Folk. There is one simple rule. Use only what you need and use it wisely. Do this and the Earth will survive. Go now and begin your quest. I shall repeat this message for those Humans whose Fairy intelligence is buried a bit deeper than yours.

The same message is then repeated until "Do you feel different from those around you?"

[edit] External links

In other languages